On the Edge
by Hieiko
Summary: Life or death is a choice they always have to make, and they're always on the edge. Hiei/Mukuro.


Title: **On the Edge**  
Author: Hieiko  
Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho  
Pairing: Hiei/Mukuro  
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH.  
Notes: Written for the livejournal community **1sentence**'s Theme set Epsilon.  
Summary: Life or death is a choice they always have to make, and they're always on the edge.

_i._  
Everyone moved well out of the way whenever Mukuro was in a rage; Hiei was the only exception. Nobody understood how he managed to keep his cool even as she proceeded to lash out at him. Some assumed that, since he was a young youkai, it was simply recklessness on his part.

_ii._  
The last time Mukuro had been angry, Hiei had even provoked her further by speaking of things she didn't want to hear. Most of Mukuro's subjects had expected her to kill him on the spot; they had been surprised when they were proven wrong after Hiei returned with a mysterious gift. But even more unnerving was the obvious gentleness in her eyes whenever she looked at Hiei since then.

_iii._  
It was no longer a secret that he was Mukuro's favored one. Thousands of youkai had been under her service for centuries, but when Hiei had arrived, none of them seemed to matter. Though Mukuro was a woman who carried the title of King, she never found contentment until she cast it aside and listened to the advice of a Forbidden Child.

_iv._   
Hiei had initially joined Mukuro to test his own power and improve his skills, not knowing that there was much more he would learn from her. Months had passed in a blur as she sent hundreds of youkai after youkai to challenge him. It annoyed Hiei because he felt he was being kept waiting.

But everything changed on the day Mukuro finally showed herself.

_v._  
Hiei still never showed any respect for her authority when he spoke, nor did he heed any of her commands; strangely, this was how Mukuro knew that he was worthy.

She was aware that she didn't hold his full attention, because of his attachments to his sister and friends. She felt the need to prod him constantly about them, just to get a reaction. It amused her that a three-eyed Jaganshi could be so blind.

Hiei could pinpoint the most minute details of battle, but his own emotions tended to escape his notice.

_vi._  
Sometimes they spoke about death; they both believed that their souls were headed for hell. Mukuro thought that it would be a picture-perfect setting: she as Queen, and he as her Consort.

Hiei called her a fool.

She waved away the insult, and declared that she was not foolish, but perhaps quite mad.

_vii._  
A few times Mukuro caught Hiei sleeping, and thought he looked like a child. But as soon as he awakened, she would feel as though she had been dragged from the past to the present. It was easy for her to see the shadows behind his eyes then, because they were mirrored in her own.

_viii._  
Hiei never said goodbye whenever he left. He never said where he was going, either. But he always brought something for her when he returned.

Mukuro appreciated those little things, but she was relieved just to have him back safe.

_ix._   
They both had enough ghosts in their pasts that an occasional visit was inevitable. Sometimes it was simply a matter of turning the page to the next story, and forgetting about it. At other times, there was a cry of "an eye for an eye".

Neither of them would give in to such demands, of course.

_x._  
It was rare to hear birds singing in their part of Makai; even rarer was the chance for them to listen. Mukuro did not know how it began, but it seemed that suddenly she and Hiei had been spending more time appreciating the wonders of nature.

"Stop and smell the roses," she would say; "I don't like the smell," he'd answer.

_xi._  
Time passed slowly, but pass it did; they soon found themselves in another war.

After every battle, Hiei washed the blood off her hands, and she did the same for him. Mukuro tore scraps from her own clothing to bandage his wounds; her own injuries were wrapped in scraps of Hiei's black cloak.

_xii._  
It was fortunate that history tended to repeat itself; three of the most powerful youkai, one of whom was Hiei, ended the war in a stalemate. But for all his talk, Hiei didn't want the political power, so he let Mukuro take the reins. She accepted it, but wondered why being a ruler bothered her now when she had spent centuries in the same position.

Perhaps they had been graced by Divine Providence, or perhaps just luck, but later an old friend returned with another impetuous proposal about a tournament.

_xiii._  
No more walls remained between them, after all the years together in times of war and peace. They had seen one another naked, in every sense of the word.

Eventually, their passion drove them to embark on the journey of starting a family.

_xiv._  
On the day their first child was born, Mukuro heard her husband's muttered vow that he would allow no harm to come to their child. With a wry grin, she then asked why he picked Urameshi Yusuke (who attracted trouble like honey did flies) as godfather for their precious daughter.

Hiei ignored Mukuro's words, and merely continued to observe the infant suckling hungrily from her breast.

If an innocent life could be born from two warriors who knew nothing but blood and death, perhaps miracles do happen.


End file.
